A YEAR Goes Round

"The days go dancing, one by one. When seven pass, a week is done...

The moon comes up, the sun goes down, and month by month a year goes round."

- from Month By Month a Year Goes Round by Carol Diggory Shields

It's hard to believe that we're at the top of another new year together. Looking back at photos such as this one from last January, it is exciting to see how much the little ones have grown!

This month we'll celebrate the passage of time by reading, rhyming, and singing about the days of the week and the months of the year.

BOOKS WE'LL READ:

Month By Month A Year Goes Round by Carol Diggory Shields
In the Town All Year 'Round by Rotraut Susanne Berner
A Year in the Country by Douglas Florian
A Kitten's Year by Nancy Rainies Day
Calendarbears: A Book of Months by Kathleen Hague
Today is Monday by Eric Carle
Turnover Tuesday by Phyllis Root
One Windy Wednesday by Phyllis Root
Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino
Friday My Radio Flyer Flew by Zachary Pullen
Molly's Seasons by Ellen Kandoian

And in honor of the Chinese "Year of the Tiger"...

Who Is the Beast? by Keith Baker (big book version!)

Looking forward to another year of reading, rhyming, and singing with you!

Animals in the Snow

"Do you think birds know when it's going to snow? I do."

So begins another colorful, nature-filled story by Milwaukee's own Lois Ehlert. Peanuts in the purse and raisins for eyes. With edible features and accessories, it's fun to watch how winter animals interact with this family of snowmen!

Join us this month for stories about ANIMALS IN THE SNOW...

WE'LL READ:

Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
In the Snow: Who's Been Here? by Lindsay Barrett George
The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming
Sailing Off to Sleep by Linda Ashman
Names for Snow by Judi K. Beach
Love Songs of the Little Bear by Margaret Wise Brown
OH! by Kevin Henkes
Snow by Manya Stojic
Every Autumn Comes the Bear by Jim Arnosky
On a Wintry Morning by Dori Chaconas

FINGERPLAY:

A chubby little snowman had a carrot for a NOSE.
Along came a bunny and what do you SUPPOSE?
That hungry little bunny
was looking for his LUNCH.
So he grabbed that snowman's carrot nose,
Nibble...nibble....CRUNCH!

SING:

Start way up high on your tip toes and end gracefully on the floor...

Snow is falling, snow is falling,
All around, all around.
Oh so very gently, oh so very gently,
To the ground, to the ground.

And by all means, if you make a snowman this winter, please include some treats for the creatures in your design!

NIGHT Fliers

Now she unhooks her toes and drops into black space.
With a sound like a tiny umbrella opening,she flaps her wings.
Bat is flying.
- Bat Loves the Night by Nicola Davies

Then the owl pumped its great wings
and lifted off the branch like a shadow
without sound.
- Owl Moon by Jane Yolen

They're both nocturnal. One perches, while the other hangs. Both can fly, but only one has feathers. This month we celebrate these amazing creatures of the night!

We'll sing to I'm a Little Tea Pot...

I'm a little owl up in a tree.
Here are my big, round eyes that help me see.

I can turn my head like this and that.
I like to fly at night like a bat.

So,when the sky turns dark and the moon comes out,
I'll lift my wings and fly about.

Then, like owls with their special, scalloped wings, we'll try to mimic silent flight.

Sweet FEET!

Maybe it's Robyn Beckley Vining's fun photos of our storytime feet... Maybe it's the afternoon I spent with Nancy singing the Hokey Pokey... "You put your left foot in, you put your left foot out..." Maybe it's related to my exhaustive search for the perfect pair of back-to-school shoes for my child! Whatever the reason, this month we're celebrating FEET!

We'll READ:

NEW SHOES, RED SHOES by Susan Rollings
READY, SET, SKIP! by Jane O'Connor
ONE, TWO, ONE PAIR! by Bruce McMillan
FEET by Dana Meachen Rau
JUMP! by Steve Lavis
A PAIR OF SOCKS by Stuart Murphy
HELLO SHOES! by Joan Blos
HOW DO I PUT IT ON? by Shigeo Watanabe
TINY TOES by Donna Jakob
I WENT WALKING by Sue Williams
BABY SHOES by Dashka Slater
WALK ON! A GUIDE FOR BABIES OF ALL AGES by Marla Frazee

We'll SING:

KNEES UP MOTHER BROWN (I know this is not specifically about feet, but we sure do a lot of foot stomping when we sing it!)

THE HOKEY POKEY (at least we had one week of this with Nancy!)

We'll FINGERPLAY (or FOOTPLAY):

TWO LITTLE FEET

Two little feet go TAP, TAP, TAP!
Two little hands go CLAP, CLAP, CLAP!
A quick little leap up from the CHAIR...
Two little arms reach high in the AIR.
Two little feet go JUMP, JUMP, JUMP!
Two little hands go THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!
One little body turns round and ROUND...
One little child sits quietly DOWN.

I'm also working out the details for an interesting foot-related storytime visitor to close out the month! Stay tuned for details...

Shine, Sun!

Make flowers grow.
Make birds sing.
Make butterflies dance.
Shine on me, sun.
Make me dance too.
-- Shine, Sun! by Carol Greene

Here's a book I've read a gazillion times and still LOVE through every single reading! Also provides a great explanation for why we slather them with sunscreen this time of year.

Ahhh...this time of year. Bright, happy sunshine! Let's celebrate!

This month we'll...

READ

Shine, Sun! by Carol Greene
One Light, One Sun by Raffi
My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson
Greetings, Sun by Phillis and David Gershator
Sunny Day by Claire Henley
What the Sun Sees by Nancy Tafuri
A Sunny Day by Lola M Schaefer
Under The Sun by Ellen Kandoian
An Island in the Sun by Stella Blackstone

SING

An opportunity to sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider! "Out came the sun and dried up all the rain..." Song and fingerplay - I love it! And of course...

SING-A-LONG WITH NANCY:

She'll teach us the words and the sign for "sun" to this song - perfect to sing on a cloudy June day...

Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun,
Please shine down on ME.
Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun,
Hiding behind a TREE.

All of us are asking you,
To please come out so we can play with you.
Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun,
Please shine down on me!

FINGERPLAY

Zoe and I made this one up as a way of combatting the - some days mundane, other days frustrating - task of sunscreen application:

One, Two, Three, Four....
Rub it in, LET'S GET SOME MORE!

Five, Six, Seven, Eight...
Rub it in, THIS IS GREAT!

Sun dots on the cheeks, don't forget your NOSE...
Rub it in! Rub it in! Cover all the skin that SHOWS!

Your ears. Your forehead. And don't forget to CHECK...
That all the skin is covered, even on your NECK!

Okay, I reallllly need to get a day job! :)

SARAH'S SPANISH WORDS of the WEEK:

Thanks Sarah for the great, LAMINATED visual aids (available every week in the book box)!

EL SOL=SUN
LA PLAYA=BEACH
EL LAGO=LAKE

Get ready for our counting song by brainstorming with your child, "What fun sun things can we count???"

To a month of celebrating the star that is the center of our solar system!

Transport Me!

"And an ocean tumbled by with
a private boat for Max
and he sailed off through night and day
and in and out of weeks
and almost over a year
to where the wild things are." -- Maurice Sendak

My time with Jeremy Jacobs and his voyage at sea, reminded me of Max's voyage, which made me remember that it was time for me to book our yearly passage across Lake Michigan by high-speed ferry!

Since this big event happens only once a year, each time we board feels like a new experience for my daughter. Boarding a ferry as a 2-year-old can be very different than boarding a ferry at 5! Some years excited, some years trepidatious; either way it's great to prepare for travel through reading!

So, with the upcoming travel season upon us, let's explore all the ways we get from HERE to THERE! Planes, trains, automobiles...and BOATS, of course! This month we'll...

READ

The Bridge is Up! by Babs Bell
Away We Go! by Rebecca Kai Dotlich
Emma's Vacation by David McPhail
Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown
Night Train by Caroline Stutson
The Bus For Us by Suzanne Bloom
The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort
First Flight by David McPhail
Boats Afloat by Shelley Rotner

FINGERPLAY

I'M A LITTLE AIRPLANE to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot
I’m a little airplane... I can fly! (arms shoulder height)
Here are my instruments - low and high. (turn dials)
When I get all revved up, (spin arm in front like a propeller)
Watch me fly... (both arms up again)
Off the runway to the sky! (up on tip toes)

CHOO-CHOO TRAIN
This is a choo-choo train, (bend arms at elbows)
Puffing down the track. (rotate forearms in rhythm)
Now it's going forward, (slowly walk forward)
Now it's going back. (slowly walk back)
Now the bell is ringing, (pretend to pull cord with closed fist)
Now the whistle blows. (hold fist near mouth and blow "toot, toot")
What a lot of noise it makes, (cover ears with hands)
Everywhere it goes! (stretch out arms)

SING

ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT
Row, row, row your boat gently down the STREAM.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily...Life is but a DREAM.
Drive, drive, drive your car gently down the STREET.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily...Life is such a TREAT.
Fly, fly, fly your plane way up in the AIR.
Merrily, merrily merrily merrily... Life without a CARE.

Finally, how excited I am to announce the debut of OUR VERY OWN RESIDENT MUSICIAN! Once I learned that this storytime regular sings, plays guitar, and is studying music education; it wasn't long before I convinced her to share her music with us. I requested one of my favorite songs from childhood and coincidentally it fits the travel theme perfectly. So get ready for some call-and-response fun! This month (Phin's nap schedule permitting) Nancy will lead us in song...

THE WORLD IS BIG, THE WORLD IS SMALL by Ella Jenkins

O the world is big,
And the world is SMALL.
So there's lots of room
For the short and the TALL.

O the world is far,
And the world is WIDE.
But there's many different ways
To see the other SIDE.

You can travel on a BOAT.
You can travel on a PLANE.
You can travel in a DANCE.
You can travel in a GAME.

You can travel on a BUS.
You can travel on a TRAIN.
You can travel in a SONG.
You can travel in a NAME.

Can you and your little one think of any OTHER interesting ways to be transported???

Looking forward to MAY'S ADVENTURES IN TRAVEL!

Down on the Farm

"THE BARN...often had a sort of peaceful smell - as though nothing bad could happen ever again in the world."
-- from Charlotte's Web

With my daughter's recent obsession with horses, and my involvement with the Tosa Farmers Market group , a monthly theme about farm life seemed like a natural choice! For the month of April we'll...

READ

Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
Farmer Will by Jane Cowen-Fletcher
Spots, Feathers, and Curly Tails by Nancy Tafuri
Early Morning in the Barn by Nancy Tafuri
Down on the Farm by Merrily Kutner
There's a Cow in the Cabbage Patch by Clare Beaton
Wake Up, Farm! by Alvin Tresselt

SING

I WENT TO VISIT A FARM ONE DAY
I went to visit a farm one day.
I saw a pig along the way,
And what do you think I heard it say?
OINK! OINK! OINK!

(Repeat with horse, cow, duck, sheep, etc.)

"Mary Had a Little Lamb"

"Old MacDonald Had a Farm"

...And lots of fun animals to sing about in our counting song!

FINGER PLAY

HERE IS THE BARN

Here is the barn (form a roof shape with hands)
Where I like to GO. (walk in place)
It’s as tall as a tree (point up overhead)
And cozy, you KNOW! (hug body with arms)

Here is the barn (form a roof shape with hands)
I’ll go there with YOU (walk in place)
To pet a sweet ____ (pretend to pet)
And cuddle it TOO! (pretend to hug)

HERE IS THE BEEHIVE

Here is the beehive... (Hold up right hand with fingers curled under)
But where are the bees? (hold other hand, palm up)
They’re hidden away where nobody sees. (shake your head)
Here they come buzzing out of the hive...1,2,3,4,5! (Raise thumb and fingers one at a time)
Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

FIVE LITTLE FARMERS

Five little farmers get up early each day...(yawn and stretch)
For there is work to be done and no time to play! (shake head)
The first little farmer goes to milk the cow. (make milking motion)
The second little farmer gets ready to plow. (pretend to drive)
The third little farmer feeds the hens and chicks. (pretend to scatter corn)The fourth little farmer has gates to fix. (make hammering motions)
The fifth little farmer sells vegetables in town. (fan hand out in front)
Five busy little farmers work 'til the sun goes down.... (yawn, stretch, sleep)

Looking forward to hearing everyone's animal sounds!

The Rainbow Connection

"Someday we'll find it,
The rainbow connection...
The lovers, the dreamers and me."
-- Paul Williams

Droplets of water and sunlight come together to give us the amazing gift of rainbows! So for the month of March, and during these dreary days of recession, let us celebrate the natural phenomenon that is legend to lead us to prosperity!

We'll explore the colors of the rainbow through:

READING...

Duckie's Rainbow by Frances Barry
The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.
White is For Blueberry by George Shannon
A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni

SINGING...

I'm a Great Big Rainbow (sung to I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a great, big rainbow in the sky...
See my pretty colors way up high!

Red, orange, and yellow, green and blue...
Now watch what rain and sun make me do!

When it starts to rain and the sun comes out...
Watch my colors all come out!

FINGERPLAY:

Color Soup! (we'll substitute different fruits and colors in this verse)

Take some cherries, put them in a pot. (pretend to put something in a pot)
Stir them up, stir them up, stir them up a lot! (use both hands for stirring motion)
Pour it out. Now, what will it be? (pretend to pour and then shoulder shrug)
The prettiest RED - you ever did see! (point to something red)

Because we'll be identifying colors in this fingerplay, be inspired to dress colorfully this month! Matching rules don't apply.

Also, if you have any fun rainbow art ideas from home, please feel free to bring and share!

Finally, sorry to disappoint any Kermit fans out there, but Jason Mraz's is my recent version of choice...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggdoi0rgSjI&feature=related

To a color-filled month!

PLEASE NOTE: On our final Tuesday in March, in lieu of our regular format, we will have a special storytime visitor!

Love and Friendship

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words." - Unknown

This February, we'll celebrate LOVE and FRIENDSHIP! What an exciting theme for our group considering there always seems to be so much of both in the room every Tuesday morning!

We'll read...

Will You Be My Friend? by Nancy Tafuri

Only You by Robin Cruise

Somethings Go Together by Charlotte Zolotow

My Bear and Me by Barbara Maitland

Mommy Loves Her Baby/Daddy Loves His Baby by Tara Jaye Morrow

What Grandmas Do Best/What Grandpas Do Best by Laura Numeroff

I Love You As Much by Laura Krauss Melmed

Animal Daddies and My Daddy by Barbara Shook Hazen

Corduroy by Don Freeman

I Like Me! by Nancy Carlson

We'll sing...

Besides our counting song, we'll have fun substituting different names of our friends in this song. Does anyone else remember this fun one from childhood?

"Move Over and Make Room"

Move over and make room for ____,

He/She doesn't take very much space,

Since ____ is one of our very best friends

We surely can find him/her a place!

Our February Fingerplay...

"Heart Shape" (more of a whole-body slow stretch than a fingerplay)

My hands are on my heart. This is where I'll start...

Up and out...around and down.

Now make the point right on the ground!

Now bring them back out...up and in.

Back on my heart, right under my chin!

We'll also learn/practice how to say "I love you" in sign language.

Finally, we'll have plenty of books for you and your child to choose from for one-on-one reading after our whole-group session.

Looking forward to warming up in February with everyone!

Winter Warm-Up!

Rage against what is potentially the bleakest month of the year by joining us for some rhythm, rhyme, and repetition. All through January we'll celebrate the joy of winter by...

READING ALOUD:

On a Wintry Morning by Dori Chaconas

The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming

When Winter Comes by Nancy Van Laan

SINGING:

Our counting song, "Ten snowflakes floating to the ground...icicles melting in the sun... snowballs flying through the air..."

For some active fun, get ready to march and bounce to "Knees Up Mother Brown!"

FINGER PLAYING: In honor of snowmen everywhere...

"Three Balls"

Here's a ball, (make ball with thumb and index finger)

And here's a ball. (make ball with arms stretched out in front and fingertips touching)

A great big ball, I see! (put arms up and touch fingers over head)

Shall we count them?

Are you ready?

One, Two, Three! (make all three balls in succession)

Finally, available after our group session, we'll have plenty of winter themed books for you to read with your child including, one of my favorites from childhood, The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.

Looking forward to seeing everyone!